It was the second morning of climbing the spiritual mountain to gather spiritual essence, and Zhao Xing was in no hurry to go to the Mountain God Temple.
While keeping an eye on the cave, he gathered Materials on the spot, preparing for his plan to lure the tiger away from the mountain.
If the fierce beast inside the cave went out to forage, that would be excellent; he could seize the opportunity to sneak in, steal, and escape.
If it didn't come out, then he would lure it out.
Fortunately, the All-Encompassing Grass Array had already reached four revolutions. While there were no other Materials on this mountain, there were many types of vines and willow branches, so there was no shortage of Materials for the straw figures.
Zhao Xing did not plan to use the Great Vajra. Vajra Bamboo was difficult to replenish in a short period.
Facing the exotic beast, he also couldn't overpower it, so what Zhao Xing needed to replenish now was the 【Swift Straw Figure】.
"Go and bring me some stones."
Zhao Xing ordered the Entangling Straw Figure.
"Go and catch some wild rabbits, mountain rats, and wild boars."
Zhao Xing then ordered the Great Vajra.
Swish swish swish ~
The straw figures began to carry out their orders.
Immediately after, Zhao Xing retreated, moving further away from the cave.
He found a patch of soil.
He took out two kinds of saplings from the bamboo box.
The bamboo box was given by Xue Wen Zhong and Chen Shi Jie two days before entering the mountain. Zhao Xing spent some time cultivating some of the seeds into saplings.
Now that he had something to do, he could immediately take them out and use them.
"If this exotic beast eats meat, then I'll get some meat for it."
"If it's vegetarian, these Vine Fragrance Berries and Passion Grass should attract its attention."
Both types of plants were Low Grade, second-tier.
Vine Fragrance Berries and Passion Grass had one main effect: they were delicious and addictive!
They held considerable attraction for vegetarian exotic beasts.
Looking at the withered bones in the cave, Zhao Xing felt it was more likely that the exotic beast ate meat, but Vine Fragrance Berries and Passion Grass also had some effect on carnivorous exotic beasts, just a lesser one.
"Flowing Cloud!"
Zhao Xing's Flowing Cloud had already reached nine revolutions, and after breaking through to the sixth stage of Qi Gathering, his control also greatly improved.
Now this Flowing Cloud was as large as a bed, and its height could be controlled to be quite low. The Origin Qi was condensed and did not disperse, so it wouldn't cause any disturbance.
"Rainfall!"
Pitter-patter ~
Rainwater began to irrigate the saplings.
"Grow Vigorously!"
The max-level Grow Vigorously caused the saplings to begin to change.
The spiritual mountain's earth power was sufficient, and Zhao Xing did not use Earth Vein Comprehensive Origin. The growth cycle of these two plants was not long to begin with; once they entered the growth period, he could just cast Savage Growth, so there was no need to waste Origin Qi to cast Earth Vein Comprehensive Origin.
An hour later, both the Fragrant Berry Vine and Passion Grass entered their growth period.
Zhao Xing opened his eyes and began to cast his Spell.
"Savage Growth!"
The two plants began to grow at a visible speed. Among them, the Fragrant Berry Vine quickly bloomed and bore fruit, emitting a faint fragrance.
"Raise Wind!"
Zhao Xing condensed a circular wind wall around him, controlling the fragrance from dissipating, to avoid attracting other wild beasts to pry.
Having done all this, he waited for the two plants to mature.
At the same time, he closely monitored the movements at the cave entrance.
"I hope this exotic beast is hungry and goes out to find something to eat..." Zhao Xing prayed in his heart.
If so, that would be best, and he wouldn't have to waste straw figures or time.
Time slowly passed.
It was almost noon, the Passion Grass had long since matured, and the berries had already produced a second batch, but there was still no movement inside the cave.
"What kind of exotic beast is so lazy? It can't sleep until midday, can it?" Zhao Xing complained, "Could it be that it forages at night and sleeps during the day?"
However, even so, Zhao Xing still waited patiently.
"I just need to get to the Mountain God Temple before midnight."
"If I have a harvest today, I can compete for the first incense stick."
"If there isn't much of a harvest, I'll compete for the top ten incense sticks."
A spiritual mountain must have a Mountain God Temple. Climbing a spiritual mountain to gather spiritual essence, everything is uncertain.
Where is the spiritual essence? How to gather it? Everything is unknown.
Just searching like this, relying solely on luck, it's likely that very few people would have any harvest.
Even if they found the place, they might not be able to gather it.
For example, that expert riding a bamboo horse, Zhao Xing had already seen him hopping around in the mountain stream for most of the day.
And like now, the spiritual essence in the cave was guarded by an exotic beast.
To ensure they had a harvest, climbers first had to go to the Mountain God Temple to offer incense and seek it.
After midnight each day, the True Lord in the temple would manifest and tell the climbers where the spiritual essence was and how to obtain it.
The first incense stick was the best, offering the greatest chance of obtaining spiritual essence.
The effects of subsequent incense sticks gradually weakened, and they would also face trials from the True Lord.
On the first night, Zhao Xing didn't compete for the incense.
On the second night, he planned to participate.
But it was still early before midnight, just past noon, so he was not in a hurry.
"How long does this Senior intend to keep us? Is it possible that if he doesn't leave, we'll just stay here indefinitely?" Fang Jie muttered softly.
"Are you scared?" Zhou Gang asked.
"Yes!" Fang Jie answered honestly, "That Senior is highly skilled and can escape from the mouth of an exotic beast, but you and I might not be able to. If we continue to stay here..."
Zhou Gang thought about it and agreed, then nodded, "I'll go ask."
But just as he stood up, he heard the nearby straw figure turn and leave, and at the same time, a voice came on the wind: "The commotion will be quite large next. You two can leave on your own. If fate allows, we'll meet in front of the temple tonight."
"Thank you, Senior."
Zhou Gang and Fang Jie were overjoyed and immediately left quickly.
As the time approached Shenshi (3-5 PM), the very patient Zhao Xing finally couldn't hold back anymore.
He strongly suspected that the exotic beast hunted at night and slept during the day.
Continuing to wait would be a waste of time, so he began his plan to lure the tiger away from the mountain.
First, he used two Swift Straw Figures as a group, approaching the cave in pairs, and began to alternately throw stones, kidnapped small animals, and Vine Fragrance Berries into the cave.
There was no reaction when he threw stones, and no reaction to the small animals either.
But when he threw the Vine Fragrance Berries, there was finally a reaction inside the cave.
A black shadow quickly darted out, heading straight for the straw figure that had thrown the items.
It was still so fast it was almost a blur, but Zhao Xing, staying in the distance, finally managed to catch a glimpse of the exotic beast's appearance.
"It's actually... a mountain cat cub?"
The mountain cat was very small, which completely didn't fit the identity of the cave's owner.
However, the plan was still in progress.
The two groups of Swift Straw Figures hadn't run many steps before they were destroyed by the mountain cat.
After confirming that the vine berries worked on it, Zhao Xing decisively ordered the second group of straw figures, a hundred meters away, to stand up and throw berries in the direction of the mountain cat.
"Swish ~" The mountain cat indeed rushed towards the second group of straw figures again. It didn't even charge at the figures; it merely touched them lightly with its claws while snatching the berries, and the straw figures disintegrated.
But it didn't matter; soon, a third group of straw figures stood up not far away, continuing to attract it.
Just like that, in an instant, the mountain cat had already appeared three li away.
Three li was the limit of the straw figures' control.
But Zhao Xing was not in a hurry; along the path there, he had transplanted Passion Grass, connecting it in a line, to attract it to go further away. The ultimate goal was to lure the mountain cat to the area where the Vine Fragrance Berries were planted.
"That's enough; act!"